Garbage grinder



L. B. GREEN GARBAGE GRINDER Oct. 7, 1947.

Filed Jan. 29, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY W 2%1/M f) 770/2 NCYJ Oct. 7, 1947. B. GREEN 7 2,428,420

GARBAGE GRINDER Filed Jan. 29, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 x I INVENTOR. FIE 9 LE5 5. GEE 5N HTTOR/YEJS Patented Oct. 7, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE amass GRINDER Lee B. Green, Lakewood, Ohio Application January 29, 1945, Serial No. 575,084

3 Claims. (01. 241-257) This invention relates to apparatus for the disposal of waste material and aims to provide improved apparatusflof this kind which will be suitable for household use and which will operate in a more efllcient and satisfactory manner than the devices heretofore proposed for this purpose.v

A number of devices have heretofore been proposed for the disposal of kitchen waste material but are subject to certain disadvantages and inconveniences which the p o d apparatus of the present invention seeks to overcome. In certain of the earlier apparatus the inlet and stopper are such that the user encounters difliculty and inconvenience in feeding the material into the hopper. In another device the comminuting means is not equally eilective for all kinds of waste and in frequent instances the harder materials, such as bones or the like, will not pass readily through the device and at times cause reducing the waste material to particles of small size.

The invention can be further briefly summarized as consisting in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and particularly set out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheets of drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view taken on line l-I of Fig. 2 and showing a disposal device embodying the present vention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken through the device on line 3-4 of Fig. 1, which is at a point immediately above the centrifugally respective elements of the comminuting mechanism;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken on 1ine'l-l of Fig. l and showing the cooperating stalling or jamming. In certain other devices the water which is needed during the comminuting operation and for flushing purposes is not supplied in a convenient and effective manner. It has also been found that in certain of these prior devices the waste material forms a mat or clump in the hopper and is not readily fed to the comminuting means.

The present invention also aims to provide improved disposal apparatus in which these disadvantages and inconveniences are overcome and which will handle all types of kitchen waste in an emcient and satisfactory manner.

Another object of this invention is to provide improved disposal apparatus of this character, having an inlet through which the waste material can be easily fed and in which automatic safety means is associated with the inlet for the prevention of personal injury.

Still another object is to provide improved disposal apparatus of the character mentioned, having automatic water supply means of a novel form.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved disposal apparatus of this kind, having novel distributing and comminuting means which will effectively handle and reduce all types of kitchen waste.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved disposal device in which novel centrifugally responsive means is employed in the comminuting mechanism. I

The present invention also provides improved apparatus 01 this character, in which intermeshing blades form a combined strainer and comminuting device having a very eflective action in movable and stationary cutter blades of the comminuting mechanism;

Fig. 5 is another transverse sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1 and further illustrating the shape of the stationary cutter blades:

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken at a point immediately above the impeller as indicated by line 6-8 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an expanded elevational view showing the strainer and stopper elements removed from or comminuting devices I2 and I3 located in such passage and actuated by a suitable driving means such as the electric motor II. The upper portion of the passage ll forms a downwardly flared or tapered hopper Ila into which the waste materi l c n e f d thr h a throat or inlet opening l5. 'I'helower end of the passage ll forms an impeller chamber It to which further reference will be made hereinafter and from which. the

treated or comminuted material is discharged through the delivery opening ll of the spout It.

The housing Hi can be made as a unitary structure, but for facilitating the manufacture and assembly of the various parts of the device, it is preferably formed of connected sections Illa and "ID as shown in the drawings. The upper end of gral lateral flange with which a second flange or fitting 2! is resiliently connected by means of the studs 22 and the intervening resilient gas ket 23. The flang 2| is provided with an internally threaded ring 24 which engages an externally threaded sleeve 25 containing the inlet passage or throat IS. The disposal device is intended for use with a kitchen sink or the like 25 the housing section Illa is provided with an inte- A tached to the lower housing section Illb so as to form a continuation or extension thereof. The shaft 23 of the motor extends upwardly through the transverse bottom wall 29 of the lower housing section 10b and is disposed axially of the passage I l. The shaft 28 is mounted in a suitable bearing 30 located in the transverse bottom wall 29 and is provided with suitable upper and lower seals 3| and 32 located above and below the hearing. The shaft portion 33 which extends above the upper seal 3| is of a length to extend through or substantially through the comminuting section of the device but preferably extends only to or into the lower end of the hopper l l a. p r

The upper comminuting device l2 comprises a group of centrifugally responsive elements or hammers 35 and an internally serrated wall or sleeve 36 with which such hammers cooperate. The hammers 35 ar carried by a rotor 31 which is keyed to the shaft portion 33, the hammers being individually pivoted to the rotor by means of the screws 38. As shown in Fig. 3, each of the hammers 35 comprises a substantially straight portion or arm 35a and an enlargement or head 35b on the outer end of such arm. The outer or end faces of the head portions 35b are corrugated or serrated so as to provide thereon a plurality of teeth or ridges 39. The full line position of the hammers in Fig. 3 is the substantially straight or radial position to which they are moved or expanded by centrifugal force and the broken line showing represents their collapsed position to which they are movable either by the lagging tendency of the head portions 35b or by the crowding effect of the material being treated.

The wall or sleeve 35 is provided internally thereof with helically extending serrations or ridges which are of a substantially V-shaped cross-section so as to form teeth orcutting'edges 40a. The wall 35 on which these helically extending teeth or ridges are formed can be made integral with the housing In, or preferably as here shown, may be a separate sleeve mounted in an annular recess 35a of the housing. As shownin Fig. 1, the sleeve 35 forms an extension or continuation of the hopper lid and is tapered or flared outwardly as the delivery passage l I is approached. When the serrated wall or sleeve 35 is of this tapered form, the serratedouterends of the hammers 35 are correspondingly tapered. When the rotor 31 is driven by the motor'lLthe hammers 35 are swung outwardly on the pivots 33 by cent'rifugalforce to or toward their full line position, as mentioned above, and the annular movement of the serrated heads 35b of the hammers in cooperating adjacent relation to the teeth 40a of the wall 35 of the housing results in the 4 waste material being effectively comminuted by being subjected to a shredding or grinding action at this point.

To obtain a satisfactory feeding of the material from the hopper Ila to the centrifugal hammers 35, the comminuting mechanism of the device is provided with a. spreader 43 which is mounted on the upper end of the shaft portion 33 immediately above the hammers. The spreader 43 comprises a convexly curved member having radiating ribs .44 thereon and is keyed tothe shaft so as to be p driven simultaneously with the hammers. The material which is fed into the hopper I in through the throat or inlet opening l5 readily moves downwardly in the hopper by reason of its tapered shape and engages the spreader 43. The spreader agitates and distributes the material in the lower end of the hopper so that it will be readily fed between the hammers 35 and the serrated wall 35.

In agitating and distributing the material the spreader 43 also throws or pushes the material against the teeth 40a of the wall 35 thereby initiating the shredding of the waste material. The spreader operates very effectively to initiate the shredding actionon waste material in the form of stalks or leaves which would otherwise form a mat or clump in the lower end of the hopper and would not feed freely to the hammers 35.

The waste material which has been acted upon by the spreader 43 and .the hammers 35 is fed to the comminutingsection l3 which is located immediately below the hammers. The comminuting sections l3 comprise groups of axially spaced rotary and stationary blades 45' and 41. Each group comprises a suitable number of blades such as the three blades shown in this instance. The movable blades 46 are carried by the rotor 31 and the stationary blades 41 are mounted in an annular recess 48 of the lower housingsection "lb. The movable blades 45 are held in axially spaced relation by spacing rings 49 and are connected with the rotor 31 by means of screws 50 which extend through these blades and the spacing rings. The stationary blades "are spaced apart in an axial direction by similar spacing rings 5| and are mounted in the recess 48 of the housing section lob by means of screws 53 which extend through these blades and spacing rings. A resilient ringor gasket 54 is located in the annular recess 48 in overlying relation 'to the group of axially spaced stationary blades 41.

The rotary and stationary blades 45 and 41 are relatively thin metal blades, and as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the blades of both groups are disk like annular members. The rotary blades 45 have annularlyvspaced generally radially extending teeth or projections 55 which are provided with substantially straight cutting portions 51 at their leading edges. These cutting portions are beveled or otherwise sharpened and are preferably inclined forwardly relative to a true radial line. The trailing edges of the projections 58 are defined by converging or contracting spirally extending lines or edges 58 of decreasing radial distance from the axis of the shaft portion 33..

The stationary blades 41 have internal teeth or projections 55 thereon which are provided with substantially straight generally radially extending cutting portions or edges 5| which are disposed so as to be presented to the cutting portions 51 of the rotary blades 45. The projections 50 of thestationary blades are preferably provided in greaternumber than the projections of the rotary blades 45, and in this instancathe into overlapping or intermeshing relation so that the cutting portions 61 and 6| will be repeatedly brought into shearing cooperation with each other for eflectively shredding or chopping the pieces of waste material. It will be seen also that the construction and arrangement just described for the rotary and stationary blades also provides the openings or spaces 63 through which the material can move downwardly and which spaces are repeatedly transversed by the projections 66 of the rotary blades. It will likewise be seen that the shearing action obtained between the cooperating rotary and stationary blades will eflectively shred or chop-bones and other hard particles without likelihood of the blades being jammed or the electric motor ll being stalled. These intermeshing stationary and movable blades, in

eifect, form a strainer which retards the movement of the larger particles until they have been further acted upon and reduced to a small size. From the comminuting section It just described above, the finely shredded or chopped material passes into the impeller chamber l6 in which the rotary impeller 65 operates. The impeller 66 comprises a hub 65a formed by the lower end of the rotor 31 and which carries a group of annularly spaced forwardly curved blades 66. The rotation of the impeller in the chamber l6 causes the comminuted material tobe discharged from the device through the delivery passage H. In discharging the comminuted material, .the impeller acts as a pump which forcibly delivers the material through the passage l1, and in so doing, causes a reduced pressure conditioner suction to be created in the chamber l6 and in the comminuting mechanism thereabove which facilitates the downwardly movement of the material being treated. The treated material as discharged from the spout l8 will be substantially in the form of a liquid or sludge.

Reverting to the construction of the device at the upper or inlet end thereof, it will be seen from Fig. 1 that the sleeve 26 is provided with an internal shoulder 66 adjacent its lower end which supports a strainer plate 69. This strainer plate is provided with openings 10 of suitable size and number and with a central sleeve'portion ll through which the stem 12 of a lifting handle 13 extends. The lower end of the stem is provided with a head or enlargement ll which prevents it from being withdrawn from the sleeve ll so as to enable the handle 13 to lift the strainer plate for removing the same from the inlet opening or throat l5.

The stem of the handle 13 preferably also carries a stopper 15 in the form of a disk which tor desires to lower the stopper 1! into engage-p The stem 12 also carment with the strainer plate 69 for openings 16 of the latter.

When material is to be charged into the hopper l l d, the strainer plate and stopper assembly is removed from the inlet opening or throat-l6 by lifting upwardly on the handle 13. After the material has been placed in the hopper, the strainer plate andstopper assembly is replaced in the inlet opening so as to close the same and prevent the operator's hand from accidently coming into engagement with the moving elements of the comminuting mechanism. After the strainer plate and stopper assembly has been thus replaced in the inlet opening IS, the motor ll is energized to carry out the comminuting operation.

During the operation of a waste disposal device of this character it is usually desirable to supply water to the hopper Ila during the comminuting operation so that the treated material will pass more readily through the device and will be in closing the the form of a liquid or sludge which can be readily delivered by the impeller 66. Such a supply of water is also used for flushing and cleansing a water supply connection in the form'of a pipe 19- leading' from an available source of water under pressure and connected with the housing I0 so as to discharge into the hopper Ila on the inlet side'of the comminuting means.

The supply of water to the hopper lla through the pipe 16 is controlled by a solenoid valve 8! which is opened to admit water to the hoppei whenever. the solenoid 8| is energized and is closed when the solenoid is deenergized. To render the operation of the solenoid valve 86 automatic, the solenoid 61 is connected in the circuitof the electric motor I, preferably in series, as Shown in Fig. 10 so that when a main control switch 62 is manually actuated to close the circult," the solenoid valve 86 will be opened substantially simultaneously with the starting of the motor and water will be supplied to the hopper lla as long as the motor continues in operation. An additional feature of the present device is the provision of safety means which will prevent starting of the motor it until the strainer plate 69 has been replaced in the inlet l5 after the charging of the waste material into the hopper lla. In accordance with this safety feature .an automatically actuated switch, preferably in'the formof a so-called micro-switch, is included in the energizing circuit for the motor l4 and the solenoid valve 80.

The micro-switch 63 may be mounted on the housing Ill adjacent the inlet l5 and has a projecting actuating pin or finger 84. A plunger 86 slidably mounted in the flange 2| has its outer end disposed in engagement with the switch actuating pin 64. A spring 86 acts on the plunger 86 normally urging the same in a direction to extend the inner end of the plunger into the inlet opening l5. When the strainer plate 69 is removed from the inlet, the plunger is shifted inwardly by the spring 86 and this movement of the plunger away from the pin 84 permits the contacts of the micro-switch 83 to be opened. So long as the micro-switch 83 is open, the motor I can not be started. After the material has been placed in the hopper lie the strainer plate 69 is inserted into the inlet' l5, and upon movement to its seated position shown in Fig. 1. it engages; the inner end of the plunger 85 and mft th lunger outwardly thereby actuatingin considerable detail, it will be understood, of

course,,;that the invention is not to be regarded as correspondingly limited but should be regarded as including all changes and modifications coming within the spirit of the invention and the scopepf, the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. ad isposal device of the character described, comprising a housing having a passage for material to-betreated and longitudinally spaced inlet and delivery openings, said housing having an internally. serrated annular section providing the Wallof.v a. portion of said passage with helical teeth, axially disposed rotary means in said housing, means connected with said rotary means for driving the same, a plurality of centrifugally responsive elements carried by said rotary means and located in th passage portion having said teeth,f1said elements having serrated portions for cooperation with said teeth, and a spreader connected with said rotary means and also located in the passage portion having said'teeth but above said elements, said spreader acting to distribute the material and feed the same to said elements.

2. A disposal device of the character described, comprising an upright housing having a passage for material to be treated and longitudinally spaced inlet and delivery openings, said housing having, an intemally serrated annular section providingthe wall of a portion of said passage with helical teeth, said passagevportion being taperedIoutwardly as said delivery opening is approachec'Lrotary means in said housing and extendinga'xially of said passage, means connected withlthelower end of said rotary mean for driving the same, a plurality of centrifugally respon sive elements carried by said rotary means and locatedidthe passage portion having said teeth, said elements having portions tapered to corresp nd' substantially with the taper of said passage portion and provided with serrations for cooperation with said teeth, and a convexlycurved spreader connected with'said rotary means, said spreader having radiating ribs thereon and being also located in the passage portion having said teeth but above said elements. 1 3. In a disposal device 01' the character described, an upright housing having a passage for I the material to be treated and spaced inlet and delivery openings, a portion of said passage being tapered outwardly as said delivery opening is approached and the wall of said portion of the passage having helically extending teeth thereon,

rotary means in said housing and disposed axially or said passage, means connected with the lower end of said rotary means for driving the same, a spreader connected with the upper end a of said rotary means and disposed in the passage portion containing said teeth, said spreader having a convexly curved top provided with radiating ribs, a plurality of centrifugally responsive elements carried by said rotary means and located in the tapered passage portion immediately below said spreader, said elements having serrated tapered portions for cooperation'with said teeth, and comminuting means in said passage immediately below the portion thereof containing said shearing cooperation during rotation of said ro-" tary means.

LEE B. GREEN. REFERENCES CITED The i'ollowingreferencesare of record in the file of this patent:

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